Five Nights at Freddy's

Five Nights at Freddy's:  Why the hell is that guy still working there?

 

Zombies. Aliens. Ghosts. Super-viruses. Demonic Cults. Cannibals. For horror games, it seems like anything that could be an original antagonist has been used up, ready to be recycled for the latest and greatest twist. Now, in the “why didn't I think of that shit” department, comes Five Nights at Freddy's. Animatronic animals come to life in a murderous way for a security guard at the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza restaurant.

 

While you play as a security guard, the gameplay has you in a control room the entire time. No wondering around hallways with a flashlight like an asshole. In the control room, you have access to the various cameras installed in the restaurant, control over the lights in the hallways next to you, and access to the doors in the room which you can lock down if the Fazbear minions try and get into the room to murder you. The catch? Power. Every thing you access consumes an amount of power and you need to spread it out to all these things until 6am everyday.


Here is the room where you will shit your pants when you fuck up.

The game creates a pretty good atmosphere. Being confined to a control room adds to it, but the tension comes from you trying to manage everything. You can easily call this Jump Scares: The Game, but it doesn't set off unless you fuck up on the level. For a horror game, it is weirdly minimalist and you fuel the scares the more tension you build as the in-game hours pass.

Honestly, it's not the greatest game in the world or even in its genre. The graphics, sound, and gameplay are nothing to write home about. However, creating a sense of tension and panic in an original setting make it stand out a little above the rest. It's a pretty good game and for five bucks on Steam, it's a bargain for those wanting an evening of scares.  You can pick up a copy here.